State asks BMC to take over highways, adds tricky rider

A senior BMC official said this would be difficult.

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The state urban development department has written to civic chief Ajoy Mehta asking for remarks on the BMC taking over two highways for ‘repair and maintenance’, and paying the PWD staff after absorbing them.

“The government is also considering putting up a proposal before the cabinet in this regard,” said a UDD official.

The proposal was made two years ago as part of the recommendations of a report prepared by a state-appointed committee The panel’s contention was that coordination among different agencies in attending to potholes during the monsoon is time-consuming and tedious.

For the last month, the civic body and the PWD have been passing the buck to each other regarding the poor condition of the Western Express Highway, where long traffic jams owing to potholes have become a seasonal nightmare for motorists.

The BJP and Shiv Sena have also been squabbling over the issue. The BMC has maintained that the maximum number of potholes this season has been on roads it does not maintain.

An official from the roads department said the state seemed to have put the condition only because it would be difficult for the BMC to accept. “How can we absorb the PWD staff? We are surprised at this strange new condition,” said the official. “Anticipating that BMC would not be able to accept this condition, the state added it only to put the blame on us,” the official said.

“We had discussed sharing revenue from hoardings with the PWD. We are even ready for just 50 per cent of the revenue,” added the official.

Another official said the PWD did not want to give up the ownership of the roads. “They want to hold on to the roads so they can construct or repair them every few years,” said the official.